Zingiberaceae - Ginger family

Perennial herbs, usually with creeping rhizomes. Leaves alternate and 2-rowed, with a sheath enclosing the stem. Lamina relatively broad (for monocotyledons), narrowing into a false petiole. Inflorescence racemose. Flowers bisexual, zygomorphic, 3-merous. Calyx tubular or spathaceous. Petals 3, fused into a perianth tube below. Androecium composed of a single, often petaloid, stamen, and a large petaloid variously lobed labellum formed from 2 fused staminodes. Ovary inferior, 3-locular. Style and stigma 1.

Worldwide: 52 genera and 1,100 species, tropical, especially Indomalesia.

Zimbabwe: 3 genera and 6 taxa.